Cooking appliance for receiving at least one cooking vessel

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance ( 10 ) comprising at least one cooking surface ( 12, 14 ). The cooking surface includes a horizontal top side ( 12 ) and at least one basin ( 14 ) extending downwards from said top side ( 12 ). The basin ( 14 ) is provided for receiving at least one cooking vessel ( 22, 24, 26 ), so that the cooking vessel ( 22, 24, 26 ) is at least partially enclosed by the basin ( 16 ). The basin ( 14 ) includes a horizontal bottom ( 16 ) and a side wall ( 18 ) enclosing said bottom ( 16 ). The top side ( 12 ) of the cooking surface encloses an upper edge of the side wall ( 18 ) of the basin ( 14 ). At least one heating element is arranged below and/or inside the bottom ( 16 ) of the basin ( 14 ). At least one temperature sensor is arranged inside and/or below the basin ( 14 ), so that the temperature sensor is in a direct or indirect thermal contact with a corresponding cooking vessel ( 22, 24, 26 ).

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance provided forreceiving at least one cooking vessel.

The basic parameter for controlling the cooking process is thetemperature of food stuff and/or cookware. There are several methods fordetecting the temperature. On a cooking hob with a glass ceramic panel atemperature sensor is arranged below the glass ceramic panel, on which acooking vessel, for example a pot or pan, is placed. The temperaturedetected by said temperature sensor is used to control the cookingprocess for the food stuff in the cooking vessel. Another method is thedetection of the temperature at the wall of the cooking vessel. In thiscase, a temperature sensor, e.g. a pyrometer, is remotely arrangedoutside the cooking vessel. Moreover, the temperature sensor may beintegrated inside the bottom of the cooking vessel, wherein informationabout the temperature is wirelessly transferred to the cooking hob. Afurther kind of temperature sensor is directly in contact with foodstuff or water inside the cooking vessel and wirelessly connected to thecooking hob. The knowledge of these temperatures may be used forprograms or algorithms supporting the cooking process. Exact informationabout the temperature of the food stuff would be advantageous.

Further, there is a trend to use professional or semi-professionalcooking appliances as well as professional cooking methods in domesticcuisines. For example, sous vide cooking methods increase in domesticcooking appliances.

At present, gastronorm containers are available for induction cooking.Said gastronorm containers are provided as cooking vessels and also fortransporting cooked food stuff. The gastronorm containers havestandardized sizes. For example, the gastronorm containers are used bythe catering industry.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooking appliance,which allows an improved temperature controlled cooking process, whereinthe energy is efficiently used.

The object is achieved by the cooking appliance according to claim 1.

According to the present invention the cooking appliance comprises atleast one cooking surface, wherein

the cooking surface includes a horizontal top side and at least onebasin extending downwards from said top side,

the basin is provided for receiving at least one cooking vessel, so thatthe cooking vessel is at least partially enclosed by the basin,

the basin includes a horizontal bottom and a side wall enclosing saidbottom,

the top side of the cooking surface encloses an upper edge of the sidewall of the basin,

at least one heating element is arranged below and/or inside the bottomof the basin, and

at least one temperature sensor is arranged inside and/or below thebasin, so that

the temperature sensor is in a direct or indirect thermal contact with acorresponding cooking vessel.

The inventive cooking appliance allows that the cooking vessel iscounter-sunk on the cooking surface. The area of contact between thecooking surface and the cooking vessel is relative large. This improvesthe heat transfer from the cooking surface to the cooking vessel on theone hand and increases the accuracy of the temperature detection by thetemperature sensor on the other hand.

In particular, the at least one heating element is an electric heatingelement, for example an induction heating element and/or a radiantheating element.

Preferably, the basin is provided for receiving at least onestandardized cooking vessel.

Further, the basin may be provided for receiving at least onecombination of standardized cooking vessels, wherein the size of eachstandardized cooking vessel is an integer multiple of a base unit area.

Moreover, the size of one heating element or of some adjacent heatelements may correspond with the base unit area for the standardizedcooking vessels, wherein each standardized cooking vessel is separatelyheated by one or more heating elements. It is possible to heat one bigcooking vessel or more cooking vessels by different temperatures and/orpowers.

In particular, the bottom of the basin is flat. The flat bottom improvesthe thermal contact between the cooking surface and the cooking vessel.

Preferably, the cooking surface is made of glass ceramics. The glassceramic cooking surface is well appropriate for the induction heatingelement or radiant heating element.

For example, the temperature sensor corresponds with one or moreadjacent heating elements.

Further, at least one temperature sensor may correspond with one cookingvessel.

Preferably, the depth of the basin is between 1 mm and 25 mm. A smalldepth of the basin forms a frame for the cooking vessel. A large depthof the basin allows that the complete cooking vessel or at least arelative big lower portion of said cooking vessel is received by thebasin.

Further, the cooking appliance may comprise at least one scale arrangedin the basin, wherein said scale is provided for weighting the cookingvessel. The scale in the basin allows weight adjusted cooking.

Moreover, the cooking appliance may comprise or correspond with a userinterface. Preferably, said user interface is arranged at the same levelas the top side of the cooking surface.

In particular, those portions of the basin provided for being in contactwith one or more cooking vessels are thermally insulated from theenvironment. This contributes to efficient use of energy.

Further, a cooking hob may be arranged on the horizontal top side of thecooking surface. Preferably, said cooking hob is arranged besides the atleast one basin. In particular, the cooking hob comprises standardcooking areas.

For example, the cooking appliance is installable in a work top, whereinpreferably the top side of the cooking surface is arranged orarrangeable at the same level as said work top.

Alternatively, the cooking appliance may be a freestanding cookingdevice.

Novel and inventive features of the present invention are set forth inthe appended claims.

The present invention will be described in further detail with referenceto the drawing, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic perspective view of a cooking applianceaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic perspective view of the cooking applianceaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with onecooking vessel,

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking applianceaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with saidone two cooking vessel,

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking applianceaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with twocooking vessels, and

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking applianceaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with fourcooking vessels.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic perspective view of a cooking appliance10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Thecooking appliance 10 is a cooking hob or a part of a cooking hob.Further, the cooking appliance 10 may be a freestanding autonomousappliance or an integrated part of a built-in kitchen.

The cooking appliance 10 comprises a cooking surface and a userinterface 20. The cooking surface and the user interface 20 are arrangedside-by-side. For example, the material of the cooking surface may beglass ceramic, aluminum, stainless steel or enamel. The cooking surfaceincludes a top side 12 and a basin 14. The top side 12 of the cookingsurface extends horizontally. In this example, the top side 12 of thecooking surface is arranged at the same level as the user interface 20.Preferably, the top side 12 of the cooking surface and the userinterface 20 are arranged at the same level as a worktop. The basin 14of the cooking surface extends downwards from the level of the top side12. In this example, the basin 14 is arranged in the central portion ofthe cooking surface. The basin 14 includes a bottom 16 and a side wall18. The top side 12 of the cooking surface encloses an upper edge of theside wall 18 of the basin 14. The bottom 16 of the basin 14 extendshorizontally. Preferably, the bottom 16 of the basin 14 is flat. Theside wall 18 of the basin 14 encloses the bottom 16 of said basin 14.The side wall 18 of the basin 14 extends vertically or is marginallyinclined. In the latter case, the diameter in horizontal direction ofthe basin 14 decreases top down. The basin 14 is arranged below the topside 12 of the cooking surface.

The basin 14 forms a cooking zone and is provided for receiving acooking vessel 22. Preferably, the size of the basin 14 is adapted tothe size of a defined cooking vessel 22. The cooking appliance 10comprises at least one heating element. For example, said heatingelement may be an induction heating element or a radiant heatingelement. Preferably, the at least one heating element is arranged belowand/or inside the bottom 16 of the basin 14. Optionally, one or moreadditional heating elements may be arranged outside the sidewall 18 ofthe basin 14.

Further, the cooking appliance 10 comprises at least one temperaturesensor. Preferably, said at least one temperature sensor is arrangedbelow and/or besides the cooking vessel 22, when the cooking vessel 22is received by the basin 14. The heating element and the temperaturesensor are not shown in the drawings. In particular, the temperaturesensor is a part of the heating element. Preferably, the temperaturesensor is arranged in a central portion of the heating element.According to a first example, the temperature sensor is arranged belowthe cooking surface, e.g. glass ceramic panel, and in the centre of theheating element. In this example, there is no contact between thetemperature sensor and the cooking vessel. According to a secondexample, the temperature sensor is arranged in the centre of the heatingelement, wherein a hole is formed in the cooking surface, e.g. glassceramic panel, in which the temperature sensor is placed. In thisexample, there is a direct contact between the temperature sensor andthe bottom of the cooking vessel. In the second example the distancebetween the temperature sensor and the bottom of the cooking vessel issmaller than as in the first example.

The basin 14 has a depth between 1 mm and about 20 mm. With a smalldepth the basin 14 forms a kind of frame for the cooking vessel 22. Witha large depth of the basin 14, the complete cooking vessel 22 or atleast a relative big lower portion of said cooking vessel 22 is receivedby the basin 14.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic perspective view of the cooking appliance10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention withthe cooking vessel 22. In FIG. 2 the cooking vessel 22 is received bythe basin 14. The bigger lower portion of the cooking vessel 22 issunk-in the basin 14.

In this example, the cooking vessel 22 is a gastronorm container havinga standardized size. The gastronorm containers are provided as cookingvessels. Further, the gastronorm containers are provided fortransporting cooked food stuff.

The size of the basin 14 is marginally bigger than the size of thecounter-sunk portion of the cooking vessel 22. Thus, there is a perfectfit between the cooking vessel 22 and the basin 14. Optionally, anadditional frame or holder may be provided in order to fix the positionof the cooking vessel 22 in relation to the basin 14. Furthermore, thegeometric structure of the at least one heating element may be adaptedto the base area of the cooking vessel 22.

In this example, the base areas of the basin 14 and the cooking vessel22 are rectangular with rounded corners. According to other examples,the base areas of the basin 14 and/or the cooking vessel 22 may becircular, oval, square or rectangular. In a similar way, the at leastone heating element may be circular, oval, square or rectangular.

Further, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise at least one illuminationdevice. Said illumination device may provide a direct and/or indirectillumination of the top side 12 and/or the basin 14. The illuminationdevice may be an integrated part of the cooking appliance 10, the basin14 and/or the cooking zone.

Additionally, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise a scale integratedin the basin 14, so that the food stuff in the cooking vessel 22 in thebasin 14 can be weighted. For example, the scale allows weight adjustedcooking.

Moreover, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise a basket lifting system.Said basket lifting system is provided for putting a basket with foodstuff into the cooking vessel 22 and/or for removing the basket withfood stuff from the cooking vessel 22. For example, the basket liftingsystem is controlled by a preset timer. In a similar way, the cookingappliance 10 may comprise a lifting system provided for lifting the foodstuff and/or the cooking vessel 22 into and/or out of the basin 14.

For example, there is a direct contact between the basin 14 and thecooking vessel 22. Preferably, those portions of the basin 14 enclosingthe cooking vessel 22 with direct contact are thermally insulated. Ingeneral, the basin 14 may be thermally insulated in order to obtain anefficient energy usage.

Furthermore, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise a cover sheet forclosing the basin 14. For example, said cover sheet and the top side 12of the cooking surface form a continuous area at the same level in theclosed state of the basin 14.

Preferably, the cooking appliance 10 is provided for performing allkinds of cooking processes, which are possible on a cooking hob. Forexample, the cooking appliance 10 allows a low temperature cooking atabout 85° C. for preparing milk, pudding, sausages, rice and they like.Further, the cooking appliance 10 may allow medium temperature cookingat between 90° C. and 95° C. for preparing dumplings, fish, poaching,bouillon, eggs and they like. Moreover, the cooking appliance 10 mayallow high temperature cooking at about 98° C. for boiling vegetables,potatoes, eggs and they like. Additionally, the cooking appliance 10 mayallow strong temperature cooking at about 98° C. for fierce boilingpasta and they like.

Furthermore, the cooking appliance 10 may allow steam cooking, keepingwarm functions, reheating of food stuff, sous vide cooking, deep frying,frying, fondues functions, smoking functions and popcorn programs.Preferably, sous vide cooking may be performed in the completetemperature range between 40° C. and 80° C. Warming functions andcooling functions with a warming plate or cooling plate, respectively,may also be performed by the cooking appliance 10. A time control mayalso be provided by the cooking appliance 10. For example, the user mayrequest boiling water for a certain time point.

The gastronorm containers are available on the market in differentversions in view of the size, material and coating. The gastronormcontainers have standardized sizes. In this example, the basin 14 of thecooking appliance 10 is provided for one gastronorm container ⅔ GN, twogastronorm containers ⅓ GN or four gastronorm containers ⅙ GN. Thegastronorm container ⅔ GN has a length of 354 mm and a width of 325 mm.The gastronorm container ⅓ GN has a length of 176 mm and a width of 325mm. The gastronorm container ⅙ GN has a length of 176 mm and a width of162 mm. In FIG. 2 the cooking vessel 22 is the gastronorm container ⅔GN. The gastronorm containers allow flexibility in cooking.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking appliance 10according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with onecooking vessel 22. The cooking vessel 22 is the gastronorm container ⅔GN and has the length of 354 mm and the width of 325 mm. In thisexample, the basin 14 is exactly adapted for receiving the onegastronorm container ⅔ GN.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking appliance 10according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with twocooking vessels 24. The both cooking vessels 24 are the gastronormcontainers ⅓ GN having the length of 176 mm and the width of 325 mm.

Several heating elements may be arranged side-by-side below and/orinside the bottom 16 of the basin 14. In particular, the sizes of saidheating elements are adapted to the size of the cooking vessels 24,wherein one or more heating elements correspond with one cooking vessel24. Preferably, the heating elements are activated separately, so thatalso only one of the two cooking vessels 24 is heated.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic top view of the cooking appliance 10according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with fourcooking vessels 26. The four cooking vessels 26 are the gastronormcontainers ⅙ GN having the length of 176 mm and the width of 162 mm.

Also in this embodiment, several heating elements may be arrangedside-by-side below and/or inside the bottom 16 of the basin 14. Thesizes of said heating elements may be adapted to the size of the cookingvessels 26, wherein one or more heating elements correspond with onecooking vessel 26. The heating elements may be activated separately, sothat also only one, two or three of the four cooking vessels 26 areheated.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sizesand positions of the heating elements below and/or inside the bottom 16of the basin 14 are adapted in such a way that all possible standardizedcooking vessels 22, 24 and 26 may be heated separately. For example, thesizes and positions of the heating elements are adapted to the smallestpossible standardized cooking vessel 26, wherein the sizes of the biggerstandardized cooking vessels 22 and 24 are an integer multiple of thesize of said smallest possible standardized cooking vessel 26. Moregeneral, the size of the heating elements corresponds with a base unitarea, wherein the size of each possible standardized cooking vessel 22,24 and 26 is an integer multiple of the size of said base unit area.

As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, the basin 14 may receive differentcombinations of cooking vessels 22, 24 and 26. Further, the cookingvessels 22, 24 and 26 may be covered by different lids, wherein saidlids are adapted to different cooking functions, e.g. standard cookingor steam cooking with a gasket.

Additionally, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise further accessoriesfor special cooking processes, e.g. sous vide cooking, pasta cooking,steam cooking, pressure cooking or deep frying. Said accessories may bespecial baskets, racks and/or containers. For example, a pasta basket, adeep frying basket or a sous-vide rack may be provided. Furtheraccessories may be an induction driven hotplate for warming up and/or acooling plate for cooling down cooked food stuff before putting insidethe fridge.

At last, the cooking appliance 10 may comprise one or more coverelements or lids in order to obtain a special design.

In particular, the cooking appliance is provided for assisted cooking.The cooking appliance allows all cooking methods, e.g. boiling, frying,deep frying, steaming and poaching. The accessories of the cookingappliance facilitate the assisted cooking as well as the standardcooking.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is tobe understood that the present invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may beaffected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention. All such changes and modifications areintended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined bythe appended claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

10 cooking appliance

12 top side of the cooking surface

14 basin

16 bottom

18 side wall

20 user interface

22 cooking vessel, gastronorm container ⅔ GN

24 cooking vessel, gastronorm container ⅓ GN

26 cooking vessel, gastronorm container ⅙ GN

1. A cooking appliance comprising at least one cooking surface, whereinthe cooking surface includes a horizontal top side and at least onebasin extending downwards from said top side, the at least one basin isprovided for receiving at least one cooking vessel, so that the at leastone cooking vessel can be at least partially enclosed by the at leastone basin, the at least one basin includes a horizontal bottom and aside wall enclosing said bottom, the top side of the cooking surfaceencloses an upper edge of the side wall of the at least one basin, atleast one heating element is arranged below and/or inside the bottom ofthe at least one basin, and at least one temperature sensor is arrangedinside and/or below the at least one basin, so that the at least onetemperature sensor is in a direct or indirect thermal contact with acorresponding said cooking vessel when enclosed by the at least onebasin.
 2. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the atleast one heating element is an electric heating element.
 3. The cookingappliance according to claim 1, wherein the at least one basin isprovided for receiving at least one standardized cooking vessel.
 4. Thecooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the at least one basinis provided for receiving at least one combination of standardizedcooking vessels, wherein the size of each standardized cooking vessel isan integer multiple of a base unit area.
 5. The cooking applianceaccording to claim 4, wherein the size of one said heating element or ofsome adjacent said heat elements corresponds with the base unit area forthe standardized cooking vessels, wherein each said standardized cookingvessel is separately heated by one or more said heating elements.
 6. Thecooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the atleast one basin is flat.
 7. The cooking appliance according to claim 1,wherein the cooking surface is made of glass ceramics.
 8. The cookingappliance according to claim 1, wherein the at least one temperaturesensor corresponds with one or more adjacent said heating elementsand/or at least one said temperature sensor corresponds with one saidcooking vessel.
 9. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, whereinthe depth of the at least one basin is between 1 mm and 25 mm.
 10. Thecooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein the cooking appliancecomprises at least one scale arranged in the at least one basin, whereinsaid at least one scale is provided for weighting the at least onecooking vessel.
 11. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, whereinthe cooking appliance comprises or corresponds with a userinterfacearranged at the same level as the top side of the cookingsurface.
 12. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein thoseportions of the at least one basin provided for being in contact withone or more said cooking vessels are thermally insulated from theenvironment.
 13. The cooking appliance according to claim 1, wherein acooking hob is arranged on the horizontal top side of the cookingsurfacebeside the at least one basin.
 14. The cooking applianceaccording to claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is installable in awork top, wherein the top side of the cooking surface is arranged orarrangeable at the same level as said work top.
 15. The cookingappliance according to claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is afreestanding cooking device.
 16. The cooking appliance according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one heating element is an inductionheating element or a radiant heating element.
 17. A cooking appliancecomprising: a cooking surface having a horizontal top side and athermally insulated basin extending downward from said top side, saidbasin dimensioned to receive and accommodate therein a firststandardized gastronorm cooking vessel whose size is approximately thatof the basin, or alternatively a plurality of second standardizedgastronorm cooking vessels that together can be arranged to approximatethe size of the first standardized gastronorm cooking vessel, wherein asmallest of said second standardized gastronorm cooking vesselscorresponds to a base unit area and all larger ones of all saidgastronorm cooking vessels have sizes corresponding to integer multiplesof said base unit area; a plurality of individually actuable heatingelements arranged below or on a bottom wall of said basin, each of saidplurality of heating elements being arranged to independently deliverheat to at least a portion of one of said gastronorm cooking vessels,when received in said basin, that is located over the respective heatingelement and corresponds to said base unit area; a temperature sensorarranged in a central portion of one of said heating elements so that itwill be located below at least one of said gastronorm cooking vesselswhen received in said basin; a cover sheet for closing the basin whennot in use such when installed, said cover sheet forms a continuous areawith the top side of said cooking surface; a cooking hob arranged on thetop side of said cooking surface beside said basin; and a user interfacearranged beside said basin and at the same level as the top side of saidcooking surface.
 18. The cooking appliance of claim 17, said basinfurther comprising an inclined side wall.
 19. The cooking appliance ofclaim 17, each of said plurality of heating elements having a geometricstructure adapted to said base unit area.
 20. The cooking appliance ofclaim 17, further comprising a scale so that food stuff in one or morecooking vessels received in said basin can be weighed while cooking, anda lifting system configured to place food stuff into one of said cookingvessels when received in said basin and/or to remove food stufftherefrom based on a timer.